The Desperado

"Only a fool sticks his neck out for somebody else. Don't get in the habit of it." Outlaw gunslinger Sam Garrett (Wayne Morris) offers that sage wisdom to fellow fugitive Tom Cameron (James Lydon), who's on the run from the "Bluebellies," Texas State Police officers who wield a brutal iron fist of enforcement in the early 1870s. But quick-draw, hard-bitten Garrett soon decides not to take his own advice after young Cameron heads home to surrender -- and instead gets framed for a revenge murder by a jealous rival for the affections of his girl (Beverly Garland). B-movie stalwarts Morris and Lydon make a nifty mentor/apprentice team, while Lee Van Cleef plays ornery twin brothers that put Cameron's budding six-gun skills to the test, and veteran actors Dabbs Greer, Robert Shayne and Lyle Talbot lend sturdy support. A great yarn is worth retelling, and Allied Artists did so, reshooting virtually the same Geoffrey Homes/Daniel Mainwaring script four years later in Cinemascope and color as Cole Younger, Gunfighter, also available from the Warner Archive.